Roy James Brown (September 10, 1920[1] or 1925[2] – May 25, 1981) was an American blues singer who had a significant influence on the early development of rock and roll and the direction of R&B.

His original song and hit recording "Good Rockin' Tonight" has been covered by many artists including Wynonie Harris, Elvis Presley, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Joe Ely, Ricky Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Pat Boone, James Brown, the Doors, the Treniers, and the rock group Montrose.

In 1946, Brown moved to Galveston, Texas, where he sang in Joe Coleman's group, performing mostly songs from the Hit Parade, in a nightclub called the Club Granada.

After being rejected by the armed forces because of flat feet, Brown secured his first major job in a club in Shreveport, Louisiana, singing mostly pop ballads, such as "Stardust" and "There's No You".

The owner of Bill Riley's Palace Park hired him, as Brown told an interviewer for Blues Unlimited, because of his appeal as "a Negro singer who sounds white.

Brown introduced his song, and Gant had him sing it over the telephone to the president of De Luxe Records, Jules Braun, reportedly at 4:00 in the morning.

[citation needed] According to the Paul McCartney Project, "the song has also been credited with being the most successful record to that point to use the word 'rock' not as a euphemism for sex, but as a descriptive for the musical style.

[8] Brown continued to make his mark on the R&B charts, having 14 hits for De Luxe from mid-1948 to late 1951, including the million-selling, "Hard Luck Blues" (1950, his biggest seller),[9] "Love Don't Love Nobody", "Rockin' at Midnight", "Boogie at Midnight", "Miss Fanny Brown", and "Cadillac Baby", making him, along with Harris, one of the top R&B performers in those three years.

In 1951, Brown performed at the seventh famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles which was produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on July 8.

Also featured were Lionel Hampton and his Revue, Percy Mayfield, Jimmy Witherspoon, Joe Liggins' Honeydrippers and Billy Eckstine.

Also featured that day were Anna Mae Winburn and Her Sweethearts, Jerry Wallace, Toni Harper, Louis Jordan, Jimmy Witherspoon and Josephine Baker.

Also featured that day were, Don Tosti and His Mexican Jazzmen, Earl Bostic, Nat "King" Cole, Shorty Roger's Orchestra, and Louis Armstrong and his All Stars with Velma Middleton,.

[18] Shortly before his death he performed at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, California, and he was a headliner at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1981, dying a month later.